Ed the Cat
by lilaclily00
Summary: Yes, exactly what the title says.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So, this is an idea I came up with. Probably has been done before, but I didn't even bother to research. I have another one I'll probably write tomorrow titled "Al the Cat." You can probably guess what that one is about... Tterit suggested continuing this one, but we'll just see what happens in a few days. If even one other person says I should, then I will. :3 **

**On with the story!**

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He had no idea how it happened, but he woke up shorter.

A LOT shorter.

_What the heck?! I wasn't sleeping on the floor before!_ he wondered while giving a self-examination. Let's just say his realization of having golden hair- no, FUR- and paws did more than shock him. He tried to run to the bathroom to look in the mirror, but couldn't go anywhere with his auto-mail leg. It was still as big and human-like as before while he had transformed into some animal. He yowled in pain from the weight of the metal that he could no longer handle on such a small frame. It must have been heard from somewhere else in the house, considering he's always had such a loud mouth, and Al burst open the door.

Al's POV:

I had been sleeping soundly in the other bedroom when I heard something that sounded like a cat in a lot of pain come from the other side of Ed's door. I had first been thinking _How did a cat get in here?_, then I thought with horror _Is Brother hitting it?! _as I raced down the hall and threw the door open. I first looked towards the bed, but he wasn't there. My eyes wandered around a bit till I looked straight down at my feet. There was a cat with golden hair and eyes, which reminded me a lot of Brother's, and they drifted to an auto-mail leg right next to it, which was definitely his. Then I realized they were connected together, and the poor kitty was trying to escape from it. I poked the cat to get its attention, and boy did I startle it. Its head jumped back a little too, probably because my head was so close.

"Ed? Where are you? How did this cat get in here?" I had pulled back my body from the crouching position I had been in to yell towards the rest of the house.

The cat somehow responded to my calls and seemed to meow back an answer, probably not realizing I couldn't understand it. It's ears were kinda pulled back, and it sounded angry. It even seemed to be cussing. Of course, I got amazed and confused, but figured that, first things first, I gotta get that leg off the poor thing. I ran to Winry's work room and stole a wrench and a few other tools quietly to not wake her up, and returned to Ed's room. Hoping I had seen Winry do it enough times for me to do it correctly, I got the auto-mail off the cat.

It immediately scrambled up and tried to walk away from me, but stumbled a few times, probably because it didn't have a hing leg. It went towards the bathroom, and yelled at me to open the door. I figured I might as well, because there's not much damage it can do in there. The door creaked a little, and the animal stepped in, then jumped up to the toilet (with the lid on it), then the counter. It paused for a moment before turning to the mirror. It gave a look of pure shock as it stared at its reflection, and almost seemed to pass out from it. _I've heard stories of pets and their reactions to mirrors, but this might top it. _Then it looked at me through the mirror as I stepped in too, and it seemed to shock it even more. It kept looking at itself then turning back to look at me, and I just had no idea what it was thinking, or what I was supposed to do. Then after a moment, I saw the cat's eyes produce tears, and it let the water fall down its face onto the counter. _What is going on?!_

Ed's POV:

Well, what did you expect me to do?! I have been turned into perhaps the vilest creature on Earth! A CAT. Of course Al didn't know it was me, and I needed to prove it to him.

I eventually jumped down from the counter, landing perfectly, but then faltering as I tried to walk, since I wasn't used to not having a leg. As I walked slowly, I thought about what I could use to write something. A pen, probably not... Ketchup? How am I going to convince Al to squirt a bunch out for me to paint with? I suddenly remembered that Al still has chalk in his bag, which he had to use before he remembered meeting Truth, allowing him to no longer have to draw alchemical circles, but had just never bothered to throw it out. I limped quickly to his room, and jumped onto various things, using them as stairs till I got onto his desk. Luckily, it was left open, so I rummaged through, mainly head-diving and all of that to push things out of the way, cuz I can't use my hands anymore. I finally found it and grabbed it with my jaw. _Oh gross, this thing is disgusting! I hope I don't swallow any chalk dust. _I dropped back down to the ground, and went to the nearest place with cement floor, which was the back patio. (Drawing with chalk on polished floors is harder, right?) _I'm kinda surprised he hasn't tried to pick me up at some point. I guess it's obvious I'm not much of a people-person. Wait, people-cat. _I used the ground and my paws to reposition the stick of chalk in my mouth so I had a firm grip, and started drawing lines around a foot long each, writing out in capital letters my important message.

I'M ED

3rd POV:

Al had already been convinced by this, because everything else that had happened up to this moment could be used as proof of this statement being true.

"That's really you, Brother?"

The cat nodded solemnly, and the human could tell they both had mixed feelings about this situation. With a heavy sigh, the younger sibling reached down and picked up the older, much smaller sibling. It was obvious the cat was extremely uncomfortable with this, but knew struggling wasn't going to help him. Wondering what emotion would shine through first, the pet waited for the other to speak.

"You are so cute, Ed!" the brother exclaimed, hugging the fluff-ball tightly, petting its head. _Of course he's excited about this,_ the kitty huffed. _It's Al. _The human grabbed Ed again and held him out to look at its face. Of course, it looked annoyed. This made him chuckle and smile wider as he hugged the feline again. _I can see how cats tend to not want to be held. _Al strolled over to a chair and put Ed onto his lap and started stroking his back.

"Imagine everyone's faces when they find out, Brother! Haha, the former Fullmetal Alchemist turned into one of his least favorite things. Oh, the irony."

He continued to talk out loud to his relative, although it was more like he was talking to himself in this one-sided conversation. Ed continued to slowly get more and more pissed off at his positive brother. He planned to escape from the lap and just go to his room to be alone, but eventually he started to relax from the petting and was falling asleep. He even started to purr, not knowing how, but allowing it to happen nonetheless. _...Never mind._

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**So yeah. I know I probably won't get many reviews for this, especially since I started writing 2 days ago... So even one person (I'm not talking about you Tterit!) reviews I will cry tears of joy. I'm pretty sure new one-shots are gonna pop up a lot during Winter Break. Well, enjoy it while it lasts! They'll come a lot less often when school starts again. Oh, and I really want ideas and/or prompts! This is all I want for Christmas... I will only do a lot of stuff with cats until that happens! Happy Holidays and K bai!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! So, I know this is pretty much all dialogue, but how else is this part supposed to happen? I need some more time to figure out how to get more action and stuff in here. I am not the best at writing long continuous stories. Not saying I have tried it much before... So please help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Don't push all of it on the new writer! D: Just make do with this for now, KK? KK.**

**On with the story!**

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"...You're kidding, right Alphonse?"

"Why would I kid about something like this? And you know I can't lie."

"I don't know, calling this thing your brother would make anyone doubt you, especially your sanity."

While Al was trying to convince Winry of the fact that the golden-haired cat sitting on his lap was his older brother Ed, he continued to stare at them sleepily with an annoyed look.

"Is there any way to prove this crazy idea of yours, Al?"

"Uh, yeah. Hold on."

Al transferred the cat from his legs to his chair as he ran to the bedroom. A few seconds later, he returned holding Ed's auto-mail leg.

"This was attached to that short stub that was probably once a full leg." Ed pulled his ears back and stared daggers at his brother for saying 'short.' "Plus, he wrote on the back patio with some chalk."

The brothers directed their female friend to where the message had been, first Ed by jumping through the doggy door, then the two humans by opening the door all the way.

"I guess I can say I'm believing you, because you're not the kind to play pranks. But isn't there something that cat can do to prove it?"

"Well, Brother can't use alchemy anymore... maybe we can ask him questions."

Al picked up the kitty and dropped him on the couch, where everyone sat down to begin the interrogation. Ed yawned as the two others thought of what to say.

"Okay Ed, how old were you when you became a State Alchemist?"

The kitty lifted one of its paws and smacked it down 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...11...12 times.

"Not bad... which arm was auto-mail before?" Ed waved around his right arm, and Winry noticed that there was some of the scarring on his shoulder from the surgery a few years ago that still stuck around after the Promised Day.

"So you really are Edward Elric?" He nodded his head vigorously with a very frustrated look.

Winry put on a mischievous smirk. "One more question. Are you short?"

The cat put on a full-on rant with very loud meows and yowls and what they supposed was cat swear words. They laughed their heads off at the angry cat who looked like he was going to try out his new claws on their faces.

"Yeah, it's him."

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**Again, I'm sorry for this chapter, but it's all I could think of at the moment... Talk to me cheerleaders and other reviewers! SOS! MRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWRRRRRRRRRR! *mini rage***

**Happy Holidays! K bai!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! The site wasn't working for most of today, probs because it's Christmas, but so this would've been in earlier if it wasn't for that. Today was... interesting. We let a missionary use our laptop to Skype his family today, and I watched the entire time like a creeper. So I pretty much got to meet his family indirectly for almost 2 hours, while they only saw my face for about 2 seconds, and maybe my voice 3 times? It was still fun...**

**On with the story!**

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Al's POV:

Ed was next to me taking one of his naps on the couch, which have become even longer since turning into a cat, when Winry came in.

"OK, Ed, I finally finished your new auto-mail. This project took longer than they usually do for me, considering I had to freaking research CAT anatomy, plus get lighter material. I'm really hoping it fits."

She picked up the kitty and stepped away back to her work room, and I followed just because I had nothing better to do. We all came in, and she laid Edward down on her desk, and told me to grab the new leg from the other side of the room. I'm just gonna say, the auto-mail looked pretty weird to me. I've only seen it done for humans, and the cat version seemed even more complicated. I walked back over to her side, and passed it to her.

"I'll connect the nerves in 3...2...1!"

The cat made perhaps the most terrifying scream I've ever heard, and I could feel shivers down my spine as it rang. _And apparently he has been getting more used to it over the years..._ Ed had not even bothered to try to hold in a little.

"Geez Brother, break my ear drums why don't you!"

He glared at me as he tried to move the metal around. It was a success, and after the pain faded away, he was able to walk around. Man, Winry is really good...

3rd POV:

Winry, Edward, and Alphonse sat outside on the patio, preparing for the discussion. The male human was the first to speak.

"So, how are we supposed to get Brother back to normal?"

"I thought you would've thought about it at least a little bit during the week!"

"Well, yeah, but I'm seriously doubting all of the ideas... You know most of this kind of stuff was done by Ed."

The kitty in reply started flicking a paw with its wrist. Angrily, he kept doing it until Al got the message. It was like when a person snaps.

"...Oh, Mustang?" Ed nodded back, relieved. "Exactly, I thought about him, but the thing is that it'll be harder to reach him since you're not a State Alchemist anymore, and he's a lot busier now. Plus, there's also the chance that even if he did agree to help, that he might not be able to do much."

"But what about if he looks in the records for people that are able to do this kind of thing?"

"I know for sure he could if Ed was a chimera, but he's not two things mixed together. He's one thing that turned into something else entirely. How the heck did that happen?!"

"Al, have you forgotten about all the stuff from the Promised Day? Literally anything is possible."

Both Winry and Ed stared at the young man, waiting for an answer. It looked like he was having an internal debate, and finally closed his eyes with a defeated sigh. He opened them again and looked at the two sincerely.

"You really think talking to Mustang will help? That it won't be a waste of time?"

They nodded, and he rubbed his eyes, once again with a sigh. He stood up, followed by his companions.

"Fine. Tomorrow we'll get on the first train to Central, and hope he's even available."

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**Welp, *sigh* I kinda wish there was less dialogue in this story. In other ones, I usually tried my best to pretty much avoid dialogue, because I'd rather write actions, but it's sort of hard to avoid it in this one. And of course, the next chapter, I suppose they'll be talking EVEN MORE, this time with Colonel Mustang. (Wait, he's a General now, right?) Should I bring Winry along? You tell me. Oh, and does it seem like I'm even writing these characters properly? Just last week I was thinking "I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable writing about characters that I didn't create..." but here I am!**

**Once again, thank you for the encouragement from all the authors here at FanFiction! Know that I truly appreciate the PMs and reviews! I have seriously read all of those at least 5 times by now, still a bit amazed I got them in the first place! I want to become friends with all of you awesome people (who have great taste ;3) and the rest of this glorious, terrifying, and hopefully awesome world! Enjoy life and do what you do best, while trying to turn weaknesses into advantages! (I guess I'm kinda doing that myself...) Peace be with you! And the force! (ba dum ch!)**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYZ! K bai!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sup bros! So, I don't know if this seems like a filler or what, but I really wanted to write about the new opportunities that Ed takes to piss people off XD If I was him, I would do stuff like that all the time... Oh, imagine the pranks you could do if you were a cat that thought like a human. And yeah, I'm a Mormon. Both Guest and Tterit asked me, and it's not like I'm hiding it. I guess it's because of that, plus the way I was raised, and just my personality in general, that I just can't imagine myself using bad words. But since I've been exposed to them so much for a few years now, I don't actually care if other people do, I just ignore it. It seems a lot of authors here think that Ed would cuss a LOT, but I think he would just accidentally let one slip every once in a while, not freaking yell them all the time. Just saying. *shrug* That's my opinion. Don't start an argument with me, cuz I'm bad at arguing, and always just end up leaving the room instead.**

**On with the story!**

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While on the train to Central, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry were bored out of their minds. Ed had managed to sleep for some of it, but at the same time, he kept waking up at all the little sounds, which were more magnified in the cat's ears. He decided that now he could be more mischevious...

He got off the seat when his brother wasn't looking, and came up to a passenger. He jumped up next to them and then sat on their lap, towards their newspaper. The man chuckled and didn't seem to mind, until he tried to turn the page and the kitty's paw stuck out and forced it back to the original position. Then he noticed that the feline's head started moving fast like it was reading quickly. Not a minute had passed when it started pawing the right side of the pages and turned toward the man and meowed a few times. Baffled, the man turned the page, and saw that the cat seemed to start reading again.

"...Whatcha reading there, buddy?"

Then he freaked internally when the cat pointed a paw at one of the articles. He still was barely thinking properly when the cat finished and looked at the man with what seemed to be a smirk, then just walked away.

He then went to the group that was most annoying in the train car, because they were talking too loud, which was waking him up constantly before. They were 5 people stuffed onto the booth, chatting like a teenage girl clique. He figured he could make them pay. Starting from the empty seat behind them, he jumped up and started walking across all of their heads and shoulders. He definitely made sure to put extra weight on his auto-mail leg. There were collective "OW"s and "What the heck?!"s and a whole lot of swearing. A couple times one of them tried to grab Ed, but he had become good at evading hits and similar because of sparring.

One of the jerks was the most annoying out of all of them, so he decided to cannonball onto his lap, but aimed for his private parts. He was on Cloud 9 as he watched the man's eyes cross and his friends yell "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Everyone watching could feel the pain.

"ED! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for my cat!" Al had run over and saw what Edward had done.

"Ed? That's a weird name for a cat. And he is a total jerk."

"O-oh, we named him after a passed relative. And he's more of a jerk than you think."

Alphonse grabbed his brother with a red face, embarrassed by his brother's actions as usual. Ed let himself get dragged away, although very moody and pouty. He quickly turned towards the group and hissed at them right before he was carried out of sight.

"Brother! You really need to stop being so rude and violent. It only causes problems for everyone. Now I'll have to make sure you stay where you should be. Geez, sometimes you're more immature than me."

The human dropped the cat with no love onto where he had been previously sitting, and the kitty laid down still agitated, masking the crazed smirk underneath. Al explained quickly what his older brother had done to Winry, and suddenly a giant screw was thrown at the furry head.

"Did you just throw a screw at Ed?!"

"Well, yeah! And a heavy one at that! I'm just using something what's in proportion to the size of his head. I don't want to kill him with a wrench." She waved around all of her screws, or 'new wrenches,' bought for the specific purpose of hurting Ed the cat.

Edward rubbed his head, glaring at Winry with fire in his eyes. They may have started a fight if they weren't interuppted by the train stopping. Everyone in their car started getting up and grabbing their luggage.

"...Are we here already?"

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**I don't know, I just kinda figured that Ed would think "No one can yell at me for being just a crazy cat, right?" or something. Again, if I was him, I would. And hey, look! Even Winry has already adjusted her weapons! And I'm not talking about normal baby screws, I'm talking huge ones that could be used to build a house, ones that are so big it's rare to find them, some so giant you could laugh at the novelty. Yeah. Oh, and maybe help me with a one-shot idea? I thought I would get more done, but lately I've just been working on these two stories. (Speaking of, I have probably mixed up some of my responses and stuff between "Ed the Cat" and "Al the Cat" cuz in my head it's like they are the same story, and I just seem to think everyone is reading both at the same time, but probs aren't, so if I confused you on something from my author's notes, try looking at the notes on the other.)**

**Happy Winter Break! K bai!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yo! Last night when I was thinking about what to write for this chapter, I suddenly got an idea that I almost wanted to cry about! I'm pretty sure people would think Alphonse is a total jerk if I made him say that! ;-; It could've done damage to poor Ed's feelings! How dare you, brain! *hits self* So I pretty much just wrote everything EXCEPT for that. I'm too ashamed to tell you the idea... Don't worry about it, guyz... **

**My favorite part of this chapter is the big paragraph near the end, so make sure you're paying attention during it! XD**

**On with the story!**

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Ed's POV:  
  
We all walked up the stairs to the Central Headquarters, and Alphonse explained to the guards who he was and that it was an emergency. We somehow convinced them to let us through, and we walked up to the desk, with me hiding behind Winry.

"What's your business here?"

"O-oh, um, is General Mustang here? We have to talk with him ASAP."

"You're in luck. He just returned yesterday from Ishval. Do you have an appointment?"

"Sorry, we didn't have time to arrange one."

"I'll go see if he's available, but I can't make any promises."

The lady left and walked towards the offices, and we just stood there nervously, waiting for her return.

Roy's POV:

I was staring at the huge pile of paperwork sitting on my desk, hoping for it to disappear, when Hawkeye walked in with two cups of coffee.

"Sir, Alphonse Elric and his friend Winry are here. They say it's an emergency."

"And how do you know that?"

"The receptionist was walking over here and she caught me while getting the coffee. Should I let them in?"

"I guess so. I wonder what they need..."

A few minutes later in walked Alphonse holding a cat and his childhood friend Winry Rockbell. _That cat has auto-mail... Then again, they own a dog that has some too._

"Long time no see, Elric. Nice of you to visit, but you probably should've called first."

"Hi, Colonel- I mean, General Mustang. Sorry, I only know your old number. I lost your new one."

"So mind telling me what the emergency is?"

He was about to say something, but then paused and whispered something that I couldn't hear to his friend, in which she whispered an answer back. He sighed nervously and prepared to talk.

"Do you know of any alchemists that can turn someone into an animal?"

"You mean as in a chimera?"

"No, I'm pretty sure it's completely turning into something else, not getting mixed together."

"What happened?" Now my interest was piqued.

"Um... Someone turned my brother into a cat."

He held out the cat, and suddenly I could feel myself just barely holding in a laugh. _What do they take me for?_

"I'm honored that you came all this way just to brighten up my day. But if that's all you are here to do, I have a lot of work, if you'll excuse me."

"General! This is serious! That is really Edward!" Winry had spoken up. "Just look."

The cat had golden eyes and hair, with an auto-mail hind left leg, and the same look on its face as Fullmetal whenever he saw me.

"I'll admit, that cat looks like Fullmetal if he happened to be a cat. But there's no way I'm going to believe this prank."

All 3 gave a frustrated sigh, and one even put a hand on their face.

"I'm pretty sure Brother is already sick of having to prove his existence, so can you just take my word for it?"

I just shook my head, and the cat scowled at me. I put on a smirk, waiting to see what would happen.

"Tell me why you think that's Edward."

Both explained the 'proof,' and I'll admit, they sounded like they were telling the truth.

"Anything else?"

"Um, you could probably ask him some questions or something. Ed, don't hurt him."

Alphonse dropped him to the ground and the cat looked back at him with a 'Yeah, yeah, I know' look and trotted up onto my desk with a scowl. I tried carrying him and petting his head really hard first; he replied by holding out a paw and flexing it, showing sharp claws. Then when I put him down, I got out of my desk a newspaper article I had found a few months ago that I couldn't wait to show Fullmetal. It explained how healthy milk was and a doctor was guaranteeing that it helped kids grow tall. I plopped it onto my desk, and the cat started to read it, getting more and more furious. He eventually got so sick of it he started shredding up the article. Just to see how far I could push it, I took an old picture out of my desk of Edward while he was still a state alchemist, and he was standing in front of me and Alphonse before getting his body back. I put my hand horizontally at where his brother's height started, then moved it down to mine, and then very slowly I shifted it down to his. I looked over at the cat, and I could see fire inside of its eyes, and it seemed to desperately want to kill me.

"General, I suggest you don't go farther. You know how short-tempered Ed is..."

I saw the cat's head twist to glare at Alphonse, whose face was kinda red from embarrassment.

"Okay then, 'Fullmetal.' Do you know what happened?"

The cat shook his head, and Winry said that they woke up a few days ago and he was like that.

"And what did you think I could do in this situation?"

"We thought maybe you could look in the records for someone that can do something like this."

"I can get my team on it, but I have never heard of such a thing, so don't get your hopes up. Why do you want to change him back, anyways? I like him as a cat. Can't understand anything he says."

Alphonse ran over and grabbed the cat before things got ugly. My smirk just kept getting wider the longer this visit got.

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**I have to admit, sometimes I love Mustang XD Then again... I'M the one who made him do that... So do I actually love myself?... I hope I'm doing an okay job on how I'm writing the characters. I feel like I'm making them more jerky than they really are, but I don't know what you guys think. Please tell me if I should do something different! Criticism is greatly appreciated for this week-old writer! *noisemaker* I'm already amazed at how much I've written already... I have a feeling my cheerleaders are definitely helping that progress! :D Keep on cheering! (P.S.- thank you for the suggestion, Scaehime! I will see if I can get Star inside of a chapter, but I don't know if it'll be in Ed or Al the Cat. Just keep reading both to find out! ;) Wanna be my friend and join the squad?) And PREAZE give me an idea for a one-shot, guys! I have been dying to do one, but my mind is totally blank! -_-**

**Happy Winter Break! K bai!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I took longer than I usually do this time, I think. But I managed to get it done before we went to a New Year's party. And luckily, no one is getting drunk in this one. *whoo* In fact, I don't think I've actually been near a drunk guy before... Guess I've always lived in all the right places? Or I'm extremely naive? Nope, both.**

**By the way, I noticed a error I made in "LemoNeko." ONE. And I am freaking out internally. Don't know if you guys noticed, but I'm a total Grammar Nazi. The only things that escape that are words that I think should exist, like 'funner.' WHY IS THAT NOT A WORD? Everyone says it! *mini Lemongrab rage* I also tend to start sentences with 'but' (hehe, butt) or 'and,' which technically you can do but aren't supposed to. However, I am not gonna fix it, because it was completed, and for some reason I have a thing about messing with stuff I have already finished. I don't think I could explain it in a way in which other people would get why... Oh well. *sad sigh***

**On with the story!**

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Edward huffed and crossed his arms- well, the closest he could get to it- and started tapping a foot in impatience as he and his brother waited for the phone to ring. Alphonse had given the number of the inn they were staying at to Mustang, and he had promised to tell them whatever he got ASAP. While they were glad that the General had agreed to start immediately, that also meant that they wouldn't know when the call would come, and couldn't leave to do anything else. Winry, of course, took the opportunity to go shopping, leaving the two brothers, now of different species, alone, and totally full of boredom and anxiety.

"...It's probably safe for you to leave, Brother. It's not like you could talk to Mustang, in that condition. I have to stay for the call, though."

Of course, Ed shook his head stubbornly, and now directed his position slightly to the human, showing that he was also frustrated with him.

"Ed, I know you want to go outside. Don't deny it. And nothing's gonna happen to me."

The kitty gave him an uncertain look, but with the continued urging coming from Al, he jumped out the door and trotted out of the inn, although having to wait a minute for someone to open the front door because it was too heavy for him. His first thought was to get food, but knew it would be near impossible to convince someone to give him some, especially because he didn't look like a stray. Also, he was kind of worried about just walking on the sidewalk, because who knew what some people would do. It's not that he couldn't handle them, it would just be harder to, considering he hasn't even tried fighting like a cat, plus no longer having alchemy on his side. Figuring there was no harm in it, he just wandered off to the street he guessed Winry would be on, because it had a lot of clothing stores.

Winry's POV:

I was trying on a new dress when I heard one of the clerks say something about a cat outside. I hurried to make sure I was covered before opening the curtain, and I saw that it was Edward, seeming to be scanning the inside of the store from the other side of the glass window. He noticed the sudden movement of the curtain and his head flicked over to me, and he seemed relieved that he saw me. I walked over to the front of the small store, barefoot and tag hanging out, and I opened the door.

"Ed, what are you doing? I thought you were gonna stay with Al."

He just leaped in without giving me an answer. I heard the same clerk gushing over how cute the cat is, and another freaking out, yelling that it was gonna get fur all over the clothes.

"Oh, don't worry. He will behave, right?" He did a slight nod, so no one else would notice it.

"Do you know that cat?"

"Uh, yeah. He belongs to a friend. But I don't get why he was outside." Edward gave me a shrug and a bored look, telling me exactly his thoughts.

"You're not gonna satisfy your boredom hanging out with me, you know, Ed. And if you try anything, I've still got some screws." I had leaned over and whispered to him, and it sounded like he got the message. I stood up and turned around, to continue my shopping. Closing the curtain, I returned to putting on new dresses, and every once in a while I peeked out the curtain to check on the cat. Usually he was either in some other part of the store glancing at all the stuff, or being carried by the clerk, looking like he wanted to strangle somebody.

I was near the end of my pile when I tried to zip one on, and I couldn't reach the zipper, no matter how I stretched. I poked my head out into view and waved a hand around, hoping to catch the attention of a clerk. She did see me, and put down Ed before walking over.

"How may I help you?"

"I can't reach my zipper..."

She nodded, and I walked out all the way. She managed to close my dress all the way, and I turned around to give my gratitude. As I was about to go back to look in the mirror, I caught Edward staring at me. I'm pretty sure if he wasn't covered in fur, I could've been able to see him blush.

"What? You haven't seen me wear a dress?"

He just continued to stare, and I could feel my face getting warmer as I looked down at my outfit. I'll admit, the blue fabric showed off my curves more than the kind of stuff I usually wear. I hurried back behind the curtain before I embarrassed myself.

I quickly tried on the last 2 or 3 dresses, then finally put on my normal clothes and shoes. I dragged all the clothing over to the counter, and picked out the ones I wanted to buy. Ed jumped up onto the counter next to me, and he did a little meow of surprise, I suppose from seeing the price tags. He looked at me like 'How?'

"I make more money than you probably think." As proof, I took out my purse, and pulled all of the bills necessary out from it. The eyes of the cat got wider and wider as the cenz grew. Once I had finished paying, we left with me carrying all of the bags. While walking, I noticed a suspicious look on Ed.

"...I did not steal from you!"

He just continued to give it. A few seconds later, he stuck out a leg, slightly tripping me.

"Careful! I could've dropped all this stuff!" I swear I saw a smirk.

"...Fine! I borrowed. But I fully intended to return what I owed you."

Al's POV:

It was getting pretty late when the phone rang. I hoped with all my heart that it wasn't for the inn keeper this time as I answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh good. It's the right number. I'm sorry about what I'm about to tell you."

* * *

**Okay, so I guess I'm for Edwin, but that's only because it was implied in the manga/anime. HOWEVER, I don't like romantic stuff. I'll admit, I've giggled when two characters kissed in a book or something, but that's just about as close as I'll ever get. I freaking want to hit real life couples sometimes. I get extremely bored and annoyed with romantic movies, and OH GOSH I am just about to barf with stories that have to do with affairs. I am pretty much ready to run out of the room! So, if you were wondering, NO I will not write fics about different ships, no matter which ship it is, especially with ones that are just plain disturbing. *cough cough yaoi cough cough* You will have to pay me to read a story about romance. And a lot.**

**Oh, and am I torturing anyone with the cliff-hanger? XD I don't know if I should say they found records of a person or not. I want my cheerleaders to decide! So put the wonderful power of reviews to use and say how you think the next chapter should go. We are counting on you!**

**Happy New Year! K bai!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! I ended up using most of today doing things like watching FMA, (I'm gonna start episode 11 tomorrow!) so there was less time to make the update. (I've read the manga and watched Brotherhood already.) That's what I get for doing at least one chapter per day... Yeah I'm definitely gonna calm down speed-wise next week, because of school. I wonder how much time I'll use... And the one-shots are probably gonna arrive tomorrow, so just wait a few more hours please!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Al's POV:

The General gave a pause, probably preparing himself to say the news.

"With a lot of research, I managed to find a possible suspect."

"R-really? Then what's the bad news?"

"This person was said to have been recently caught at Fort Briggs, and somehow escaped. I'm guessing from what you saw while you were there, that's not an easy feat..."

"Oh no... So are we supposed to try to find them in the North?"

"There are no sightings in other areas, so yeah. And you will probably have to talk with General Armstrong up there."

"Armstrong? She's still there?!"

"Yup. Good luck."

He immediately just hung up, and I could just imagine a giant smirk on his face. _He could've at least given a name or something!_ _Man, wait till Ed hears this..._As if the universe had heard my thought, in walked Winry and Brother.

"Did Mustang call?"

"Yeah, there's a possible suspect up in the North."

"Dang, we have to go there AGAIN?" All of us, especially Ed, slumped down a little.

"Even worse, we may have to visit Fort Briggs."

I think Brother's eyes started bugging out a little. Knowing him so well, I could already infer the thoughts running through his head. After about a minute of silence, we all just kinda mutually agreed to get ready to leave. I checked with Winry that she still wanted to come along, and she nodded vigorously, talking about how she would have to possibly adjust Ed's auto-mail, although she did use some of those materials in the first place to make the leg lighter. I sort of slid away as she continued to ramble on about auto-mail, and I grabbed Ed and put him on my lap.

"What do you think Armstrong's gonna do when she finds out you're a cat?" Just the thought of the horrible things she might do made both of us shiver. There was a chance she would yell and beat him up, and of course, possibly worse.

"...Never mind. I don't want to think about that." I continued to pet him, doing my best to distract myself. We all managed to sleep a few hours later, and in the morning rushed to eat and catch the train on time. We were on already when we realized we forgot to get any thick clothes... I ended up transmuting the blanket Winry brought into coats, which disappointed her plenty.

Edward must have been in really deep thought, because he didn't try to do anything like last time. Just stared out the window without a word. It made both Winry and I uncomfortable, and we ended up silent in the end, too.

I had drifted off to sleep at some point, and was woken up when the train stopped suddenly. I know I was asleep, but it felt like the ride was too short. My suspicion had been proven when I looked outside and there was no snow. I could hear a few men yelling angrily about the train stopping. The person I assumed was the conductor walked into our car a few minutes later to explain the situation.

"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There is some serious damage to the tracks in front of us, so all passengers now have to be transferred to a different train. The closest station is a few miles North."

I had blocked out whatever else he said after that, which was probably just the route to take and other options. It was not hard, because there were collective groans and angry shouts drowning out his voice anyways. _Severely damaged? ...As in sabotaged?_ Everyone in the car started to file out with their belongings, and when the three of us finally managed to get out the door, I immediately started walking towards the front of the train to see the tracks. It was a little ways up from the actual vehicle, but it definitely looked like it was torn apart by an explosion or something. Possibly alchemy.

Ed and Winry had eventually caught up to me, and took some time looking at the tracks themselves.

"Do you know if there was anyone important on that train?" Both just shook their heads.

* * *

**...I'm really nervous about writing Olivier, who I'm not even sure should be there after the Promised Day or not, or what position. If you know please tell me! For some reason, my mind refuses to let me look on the Wiki... o.O But I'm kinda stalling for the moment. Sorry. :/ Why do you guys think someone blew up the tracks? I'm kinda curious. :3 And it would defs help the story get along faster if I get some ideas...**

**Happy Winter Break! K bai!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yo yo yo! So, tomorrow school starts again. ;-; Which means that now I won't be able to post as often. I'll try my best to not waste so much time on other things and get this done, but my sister uses the computer a lot for school work. And she just seems to love having the laptop at the same time that I want it. Guess we'll just see what happens...**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Mystery POV:

I couldn't let the Elrics get to the North yet. Not now. I need more time. And the only way I found to do it was to stop their train. The deed was done by a pyrotechnic alchemy expert who didn't know me in any way, and with the precautions taken no links could be made to me. It seems harsh, but it's the only way I can protect Edward. I have to kill the predator before they kill the prey.

Ed's POV:

No one figured out who blew up the tracks, or why, so eventually the investigators gave up. Meanwhile, everyone on our train had to walk to the station, which was farther away than expected. It took hours before it came into view, and even then, we had to wait forever until the new one arrived. We may have missed half of the entire day because of that. _And we could've gotten so much done with the amount of time that just got wasted. _We were back on the road, and this time I got so fed up with thinking silently I ended up causing a bit of trouble again. _But I have to admit, that guy had no right to calling me small for my age. _

Somehow, we finally managed to get to the North without someone trying to beat up the 'stupid cat.' The first thing the 3 of us did once we arrived was get some food. We walked into a very tiny restaurant that seemed to have something that wouldn't kill me. After an hour, we were all stuffed and ready to make the treacherous journey to Fort Briggs.

...It was a lot worse this time. Probably because I'm a lot smaller and lighter, considering I'm a cat and stuff. As what happened the first time around, we were taken in because a soldier thought we might be spies. Alphonse hid me in his coat to make sure I didn't get left behind as we were dragged in.

It was the same routine, but it stopped sooner once Armstrong entered to check her prisoners. Looked like she immediately recognized Alphonse, and especially Winry. She let us out to explain what we were doing there. Al, being a wimp, gave in a lot faster than I would've. And as predicted, she decided to slap me around.

"Idiot." *punch* "How could you let yourself be turned into a cat, of all things?" She tried to throw me across the room after a few more smacks, but now my landing has improved a lot, which wasn't that bad before anyways, and I ended up unharmed, besides the hits before.

"General, Brother is quite the deep sleeper. And a drug may have been involved too, although I don't know when."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"General Mustang said there was a possible suspect here who escaped. Who is it?" Winry gave a determined stare right into the other blonde's eyes. She must have been impressed by it, because she gave a chuckle and changed her position a little, turning to the man behind her.

"Miles, go get the copy of the report."

"Yes, sir." He nodded and walked off to some other part of the fort. Meanwhile, the General turned back towards us.

"They did not escape. We let them go."

"What? Why?"

"They threatened to kill me and everyone else here if we didn't. Knowing my men, they wouldn't be defeated, but by the person's skill in alchemy, it was obvious that many could get seriously injured. Seemed they didn't even have any use to us, anyways, because they weren't Drachman, so they were someone else's problem, not ours."

By then, Miles had returned with the report, handing it over to Olivier, which she gave to us. I hopped up into Al's arms to get a better look. It included a picture, but there was no way to tell which gender they are.

"What's the name?"

"No idea. Couldn't get it out of them. Neither gender, as if that matters much. No background, no age, nothing. They probably change their appearance and name a lot anyways, so it would've been hard to get that information. With someone like that, it's possible they are the culprit."

"What kind of alchemy did they do?"

"One I'm not sure of, as I couldn't see any circles involved. Perhaps the same as Edward's was."

"Anything that you could use to distinguish them?"

"They were missing their left leg. And probably lost it recently. That's it."

We were driven back down to town by a soldier, and got into the nearest inn. There I couldn't help but stay awake for a while, thinking about the fact that this person may have seen the Gate too.

* * *

**I hope I got people gasping when they read this chapter! I just barely got this idea that changes a lot the direction this story was going. UNEXPECTED! *throws smoke bomb down* Are you guys pleased with this turn? If not, I can just rewrite this chapter, no biggie...**

**It's no longer Winter Break! K bai!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Happy Unbirthday! (Unless it's your birthday...) I was really hoping to get this in a few days ago, but I spent most of my time on a roleplay forum, which was both fast moving and confusing! It's amazing how the plot just kept getting weirder and weirder... But I still tried to contribute my part in it, even though I obviously was one of the less important characters in the story. Being sucked inside of it left little time for me to actually be able to THINK about what would happen in this chapter, and so I got very little written while on the forum. I guess I got a small case of writer's block... I want to show who the mystery person is now, but that just seems too rushed, huh? I'm gonna wait at least until next chapter to do so! Which makes me feel like this is just a filler...**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Al's POV:

The next morning, Winry and I woke up and prepared for going out, and afterwards we managed to wake Brother up. The three of us went to the restaurant across the street and ate, although hiding the fact that we were giving food to Ed, because of weird looks.

We stepped out after asking the waiter the best place to start at when looking for someone. We ended up at the city's police department. We gave the best description possible, and they promised to tell us when they found something, but of course, that can take days.

Meanwhile, we decided to just search the streets. The three of us separated into different directions, looking at everyone on the sidewalks and peeking through any windows of businesses. But when a few hours passed by, we all met up in the designated restaurant for lunch, and no one had any news. After an hour of rest, we all returned to where we left off, once again going for hours until meeting up for dinner. And again, nothing.

"Guys, can we stop at least for today? My feet are totally killing me!" Winry complained.

"...I'll admit, I love having my body back, but I haven't gotten used to so much walking yet..."

Brother looked at us with a look of maybe some sympathy. I guess during the time he was a State Alchemist, we did travel a LOT, and he did all of it on his own two legs. (...Leg...) I couldn't feel anything during that time, though, being a soul bound to a suit of armor and all. I never realized just how much exercise he had done until now, seeing that Winry and I felt we were about to die, and he sat there like it was nothing.

"We can wait until tomorrow, right, Brother?" He seemed disappointed, but agreed. He was probably going to go out by himself anyways.

We all returned to the inn with full stomachs, and for some, aching feet too. Everyone went to bed, including Ed, but he may have snuck out at some point. I wouldn't know, because since I've been able to sleep again, I SLEEP.

The next day was the same routine, except we probably got less done compared to before, as it was getting hard to handle all the walking. The third day, we first went to the police station to see if they got anything, but apparently, there were no records of a citizen that looked like that. _I guess General Armstrong was right...And who knows? They may have changed their appearance again since then! Now what?_

Ed's POV:

I wish I wasn't so impatient. Our search for answers has gotten nowhere yet, except for that one suspect, but it's near impossible to find them, which is pretty obvious, even though it has only been a few weeks that I have been stuck like this, and only a few days spent searching. _This all better be worth it in the end..._

Winry and Al, being kinda wimpy, haven't been able to get as much distance within the hours we go out as I have, although it is getting to me now. I guess we all deserve a short break. It turns out there is a bakery a few blocks away from the inn, and from what I've heard while passing by, it's delicious. I kinda tried to point it out to my brother, who seemed to take the hint. I don't care how much damage they can do to me now, I want sweets!

When entering, I could immediately feel warm air, or at least warm compared to the snow outside. I got attacked with all of the smells inside the building, and it was hard to believe that everything really did smell that good and I had never noticed. _One point to cats- superior sense of smell. _Al was kind enough to get something that didn't have chocolate in it, and I got to try a piece of it. And it tasted like practically nothing. I kept trying to get some flavor, but it was barely anything. _Point to humans- superior sense of taste. _How can something smell so awesome, yet I can't taste it? I still tried to enjoy it, knowing how it was supposed to be in my head.

When we left, we were walking back slowly to the inn, and I encountered the first dog I had seen as a cat, besides Den. I could hear (and sadly, smell) it long before it came into view. It immediately started to growl at me, and I don't know if I couldn't understand it talking, or it just didn't feel the need for it. I felt myself get into a battle position, although my ears pressing down was new.

"Oh no, please don't fight the dog, Ed!"

I heard Alphonse say that, but I didn't heed to his words. I've been waiting for something like this, fighting with someone my own size. Claws were about to come out when I got lifted up in the air, and simultaneously the dog's leash was yanked away.

"I'm not letting you for your sake. You are totally inexperienced against that kind of opponent! He may have had the upper hand in this battle."

Knowing he was right, but still being stubborn, I got carried the rest of the way with what I hoped came off as a pissed-off expression. Right there, I promised to myself that if I was to meet that dog again, we WILL fight, and I WILL win.

* * *

**Is it just me, or was the chapter written differently than usual?... Fo' yo' info', I actually looked up how a cat's senses are before writing this. I knew their sense of taste would be different than for a human's, as I had said in "Al the Cat," but after that I got kinda nervous about if I'd be writing correctly when it came to other senses or whatever in the future. Turns out, cats have barely any taste buds compared to us! They usually determine food by smell, touch, and what their mamas taught them. I figured Ed might have not truly noticed the difference yet, because up to this point he was probably only eating meat, like cats should.**

**As an effort to make this story differ to "Al the Cat" more, I was thinking that maybe Ed CAN'T understand animals, or maybe can just talk to other cats. I never understood if pets can talk to each other or just those of their own species... But if you guys think he could have an interesting conversation with a dog, go ahead and say so! Who knows how realistic I'll be with it, though, since I'm not a dog and don't know how they think... Also, should I prepare Ed for a battle against the only dog in the North? XD Seriously, how has he not seen any other ones yet?**

**Wow, long author's notes...**

**K bai!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Whaddup! I decided that next chapter is when the antagonist is introduced! *multiple gasps* Yeah, das right! *smug smile* Oh, but I feel like I waited too long to write this chapter. :( Just stuff happening. You know. I had told you guys in my last update of "Al the Cat" that my 2nd semester was starting, right? I guess I'm okay with all my new classes, except that I don't have any of my old friends anymore! *tear* And I really don't feel like going through the whole thing of making new ones, plus trying to figure out times to meet up with the old friends. *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* Oh, and more to tell you!**

**I took Saturday and today to watch _Attack on Titan_! OOOOOH MY GOSH! That last second of the 25th chapter doh! (After the credits) It literally left me mentally screaming my head off like Eren when he loses control for maybe a half-hour? And I didn't get to say so before, but I watched the FMA movie _Conqueror of Shamballa _last week! I was literally shaking like a chihuahua from excitement during and after! I had so much adrenaline and euphoria and possibly other things inside of me I did hard exercise for at least an hour afterwards, and honestly, I didn't feel very tired. XD I started thinking that maybe just the thought of the awesomeness of that movie could give me more energy, which would defs help since I'm now in PE... Now I'm so much happier with the 2003 anime because I got to watch the REAL ending. :D**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Ed's POV:

Now we have been searching for a week. It just becomes more pointless the more time that passes by. Why are we still in the North? I highly doubt our suspect would still be around here. I can tell Winry and Alphonse are having some trouble with motivation, too. They have more patience than me, but not THAT much. So what now?

I eventually took a break after a few hours searching for the day. I walked to the nearest empty place where I could be alone and not feel like I could get kidnapped. (Wait- catnapped.) I sat/laid there, mindlessly flexing my paws to sheathe and unsheathe the little claws. I also tried doing the same to my automail leg, but the toes didn't move as much. I realized this was one of the small opportunities I could use to practice fighting. Looking around and making sure no one could see me, I started jumping around, pouncing, swiping, kicking, just trying to figure out how to defend myself like a cat. I had already tried before a few times before, and now the moves were feeling a little more natural.

It was a while until I realized my break may have been too long, and I should start getting back to work so Al and Winry wouldn't worry. Panting a little, I walked slowly back out into the open, and looking around, I guessed that I was gone between half an hour to an hour.

By the end of the day, I was returning to the inn, when I came upon the DOG. _Yes! I've been waiting for this! _We once again took our battle positions, and I made the first move as soon as it looked like my opponent was ready. We never gave the dog's owner a chance to drag him away, and she seemed to understand why some people say you shouldn't try to stop a cat/dog fight. I must have had an expression that looked like pure rage and said "This is personal," even though it isn't. I finally had the chance to vent out my anger from the past couple of weeks of being a cat. I put all my force into my slaps and kicks, and after some heavy-duty punches and other moves being exchanged, I managed to jump over the dog into a certain position. With quickness and strength on my side, I kicked my automail leg across its face hard, ultimately making it fall. I could visibly imagine a big "KO" written over his head as I watched with glee the dog whimper over to the owner, who picked it up like a baby, petting it as she walked away with a sad look on her face. _Totally worth it._

I sat there waiting for my heart to calm down a little when I heard the lady complaining loudly to someone. Looking over, I saw ALPHONSE. He looked over at me with, well, I couldn't totally tell what emotion yet. He looked like he was apologizing to the dog's owner, and once she finished with her rant, she continued walking away. Al came up to me and picked me up. He just gave a deep sigh as he carried me back to the destination.

"Look, I knew this would happen at some point. The only good thing I can say about it is that you won. But you'll have to worry about Winry. She got worried about you taking too long to come back, and once she hears you were fighting, prepare for pain."

Al's POV:

When I said that, Brother visibly shuddered. He had good reason too. I just tried to pet his fur a little on the way so he looked a little nicer. He somehow ended up with few scratches as proof of the battle in the first place, so that would probably help him a little once in the presence of the dreaded Winry, but she was still going to hit him.

Once we got to the door to our room, I held Ed up in one hand while unlocking it with the key. I opened the door cautiously, but got surprised when a wrench- I mean, screw, didn't come immediately. I looked over to the couch and realized she was still taking aim before it came flying. Not another second passed before it smacked Brother right in the cranium.

"You idiot! I got worried that something happened because you weren't here yet! Is there a reason why, Alphonse?"

I hesitated before looking down at Brother, who seemed to have accepted his fate already.

"He was fighting a dog."

I quickly dropped him and leaped a few feet away from what would now be a flurry of screws. _I don't want to get hit when there's no reason. _I couldn't help but watch sympathetically as Winry continued to throw the objects at Edward, taking a bit longer to aim than she had before, probably since now her target is smaller, but she didn't miss once nonetheless.

Winry's POV:

The next day, we had decided to just relax at the nearest park, but not staying out too long since it was freezing outside. Ed was spread out on both mine and Al's legs as we pet him to make sure he still stayed a little warm. There was a comfortable silence between the three of us, besides the occasional soft purr from Edward. We all enjoyed the peacefulness of the moment, perhaps looking around to see few people walk by, or the white snow, most of it untouched.

I randomly glanced at some person that was a few yards away from us, who had their hood up and a thick scarf on, which I obviously just thought was from being out here, and it wasn't while I looked back up a few seconds later when I was able to catch their eyes- and they were gold. I didn't even get the chance to do a double-take, but there was no mistaking it. That person had golden eyes just like Ed's.

* * *

**MUAHAHAHAHA I wonder if I'm the only person that understands the tiny hints I'm giving about the criminal. Probably. You guys will get it once they are revealed. Maybe you will look back at previous chapters and be like "OOOOOH now I get it! :D" I hope so... And I hope the alchemy technique makes sense to the readers, cuz I'm kinda coming up with a whole new thang right now. **

**Happy Martin Luther King Jr's Day! (I kinda wish the holiday's name was shorter...) K bai!**


	11. Chapter 11

**For some reason, FFN refused to let the world know that this chapter was up. I ended up deleting the chapter altogether and then re-adding. Note this was put up on Friday, not Sunday. *stares daggers at the makers of this site***

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**Hai! This is much too late for me, but my mom and sister just really felt like they wanted to make me waste time at the mall and stuff after school instead of wasting time on the internet. -_- Apparently I needed to go out and be with society or something. "3 Psh, (hehe, already using it, VK! XD) I don't need that! I am just fine! I am social enough at school! And on the internet! Plus, the time I DID get on the laptop was mainly used on RP forums... Is it normal to have an obsession within an obsession? o.O**

**On with the story!**

* * *

"_I__ didn't even get the chance to make a double-take, but there was no mistaking it. That person had golden eyes just like Ed."_

Winry's POV:

I jumped up off the bench, knocking Edward down in the process, and yelled at the brothers to chase that person. Alphonse probably didn't see why, but trusted me anyways. Ed probably couldn't have seen with his cat eyes that person's eye color anyways, but had no choice but to follow us. I ran as fast as I could through the snow-covered park, not even thinking about if I was going to run into someone or something in the process. My one and only goal was to catch this guy.

The stranger must have not realized that I saw them, but it came quickly and they started to run away from me. _Hehehe, you are looking so guilty right now. _Just when I thought I could tackle the person, they jumped up with incredible ability over my head into a tree. Then I watched as from there they started to jump around from branch to branch, then to another tree, branch, tree, branch, tree. I stood in awe for a moment but quickly regained my senses and followed from the ground. I could hear the running footsteps behind me of the Elrics crunching into the snow, and I wondered if they were as surprised as me. It seemed to be the end of the line when we got to the end of the park, and the chased dropped down to the ground. But then they clapped their hands and transmuted the ground underneath them to shoot up, catapulting the alchemist to the roofs. The transmuted ground fell apart under their feet as they leaped up onto the nearest building and continued to run. _So General Armstrong was right, no transmutation circles. _I started to run around to the street and try to get them in my sight again, and I saw that Alphonse had started using his alchemy too, jumping up to the same roof with determination. I looked back for a moment and saw Ed panting behind me, also with the determination he was always known for. I turned back with a smile creeping on my face, now feeling like we can still catch this alchemist.

Mystery POV:

Why was I running again? Oh yeah. The Elrics are chasing me. I knew this day would come, but was hoping to put it off a little bit longer, to make sure Edward was truly in no more danger before getting him back to normal. Also, hopefully figure out how to do the transmutation without losing another limb. Speaking of, that temporary dirt leg I transmuted onto myself so I could walk was already starting to fall apart. Jumping around in trees and buildings will do that. Go figure.

I forced myself to not look back at Alphonse, who I could hear running behind me, yelling at me to stop. _Heck no, I'm not going to stop, you are going to beat me up! _Right when I thought that, my dirt leg broke in half, sending me crashing down on the roof. Panic rising up, I dropped down to ground level again and transmuted another one on me, quickly jumping back up to where I left off.

The chase became pretty tiring, and it was evident that now the trio was slowing down. I took one final sprint and got super far ahead of them, then jumping down from the building's roof so that none of them could see me. I ran into said building and turned out it was a clothing store. I bought sunglasses (why are they selling sunglasses in the North?) and some other things to disguise myself differently. It was just a few minutes later when the door burst open to a panting Alphonse and company. I turned around and tried to make it look like just another customer, but apparently it wasn't working. A hand pulled my shoulder, turning me around forcibly, and I watched as their female friend frowned at me and pulled the sunglasses.

"HaHA! You really think you could've fooled me?!" I just groaned a little and took off all of the extra clothes I piled on, letting them see what I looked like. _Too late for stalling._

Al's POV:

Who was standing in front of us looked HALF like Brother, which was strange. His eyes, his hair but cut differently, and his skin tone. Otherwise, their face and body shape and everything else was totally different. This person looked like a manly female, if that makes sense. I honestly wasn't sure what gender they were, true to General Armstrong's words.

"So were you the person who did ...something to my brother?"

"Yup, I'm the culprit. I suggest we sit down, the explanation might be long."

We sat down in the nearest chairs. I was kinda surprised at how calm this person was, with commiting something like this.

"Okay, what do you want to hear first?"

I glanced over at Ed, who was giving the person a look. They got the message.

"I used alchemy, as you probably guessed. Pretty much, body switching. I figured out it was possible, as everyone has a mind, soul, and body. As long as they have all three, then they are alive, technically. Temporarily having someone else's of one of those will still work."

I looked back at Ed, and just got more confused.

"Wait, you have Ed's body, so shouldn't he have yours?"

"He does."

"...You're not a cat." Winry was also displaying extreme flabbergastment.

The person breathed in then out deeply, as if preparing to say something difficult.

"I'm a chimera."

* * *

***huehuehue* Flabbergastment. XD I should say that more often.**

**This chapter was gonna explain more, but it seemed like then it might end up TOO long... but I hope I have kept your interest piqued! And I'm still kinda nervous about my character and how this all came to pass... It might seem too out there, even for freaking FMA, where the impossible is possible.**

**I have actually been thinking... I have used my OC Mausu Mumei in a few forums already, and am kinda worried she is being viewed the way she isn't supposed to be... Maybe I'll draw a really nice picture of her and make it my profile pic or something? Do you guys want that? Oh, and so far only I Am Darkrai and Vibraknife have joined my forum. I love you two very much, but the more the merrier, ya know? Just look up "OC RP of Awesomeness" and get onnnnn!~ I would love my cheerleaders to join! And other authors! :3**

**K bai!**


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